June 2007 June 2007

June 1, 2007

 

 

 

 

Mergers and Acquisitions

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Inc. of Pittsfield, MA, and Factory Point Bancorp of Manchester Center, VT, announced on May 15, 2007, the signing of a definitive merger agreement under which Berkshire Hills will acquire Factory Point and its subsidiary, Factory Point National Bank.

After the merger is complete, expected in late third quarter or early fourth quarter of 2007, Factory Point National Bank will become part of Berkshire Bank and operate 38 full-service branches and 10 insurance agency offices. (SNL Bank and Thrift Daily, 5/16/07; Berkshire Hills Bancorp Press Release 5/15/07)

On May 21, 2007, Crescent Credit Union ($310 million) of Brockton, MA, announced that it had agreed to acquire Uniti Credit Union ($50 million), also of Brockton, MA. After the merger, Uniti will become a branch of Crescent Credit Union. (SNL Bank , Thrift Daily, 5/22/07)

Merrimack Bancorp MHC unit Merrimack County Savings Bank of Concord, NH, officially acquired Bow Mills Bank and Trust of Bow, NH, on May 1, 2007. The deal, estimated at $22.5 million, was originally announced in December 2006. The Merrimack and Bow Mills branches will operate independently until data processing and branch operations are converted, which is expected to take place the weekend of July 21, 2007. (Internal Sources, 5/03/07, 1/2/06; SNL Bank and Thrift Weekly, 5/7/07)

Wilmington Trust Corp. ($10.99 billion) of Wilmington, DE, announced on May 7, 2007, that it had agreed to acquire Bingham Legg Advisers LLC (BLA) of Boston, MA. Bingham Legg will adopt the Wilmington Trust name when the transaction, slated for the second quarter of 2007, is complete. (SNL Bank M,A Weekly, 5/14/07; Wilmington Trust Corp. Press Release, 5/7/07)

Members United Corporate Federal Credit Union of Warrenville, IL, and Central Credit Union Fund of Auburn, MA, announced on May 4, 2007, that Members United had agreed to acquire Central Credit Union Fund. Members United is a $10.9 billion financial institution that provides wholesale investment, credit, payment and correspondent services to over 2,100 credit unions throughout the United States. (SNL Bank , Thrift Daily, 5/08/07)

Conversions

Bangor Bancorp, MHC of Bangor, ME, converted to a bank holding company (BHC) on May 1, 2007. Following its conversion to Bangor BHC, the company acquired Bangor Savings of Bangor, ME. (Internal Sources, 5/11/07)

United Financial Bancorp, Inc. announced on May 21, 2007, that the board of directors of its mutual holding company, United Mutual Holding Company, had adopted a plan to convert from a mutual to a stock form of organization. United MHC will be the holding company for United Bank, which has approximately $1.0 billion in assets and serves western Massachusetts through 13 offices. (United Financial Bancorp Press Release, 5/21/07; SNL Bank , Thrift Daily, 5/22/07)

Corporate Title Changes

Credit Union Central Falls of Central Falls, RI, changed its corporate title to Navigant Credit Union. The change became effective with the opening of business on April 23, 2007. (Internal Sources, 5/03/07)

Greater Portland Municipal Credit Union of South Portland, ME, changed its corporate title to GPM Credit Union on January 1, 2007. (Internal Sources, 5/11/07)

Ocean Bank, FSB of Warwick, RI, changed its corporate title to Home Loan Investment Bank. The Office of Thrift Supervision approved the title change on February 13, 2007, and the change became effective on March 28, 2007. The change was in name only and did not reflect any changes in ownership. (Home Loan Investment Bank notice, 4/13/07)

Branch Openings/Closures

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Inc. announced on April 30, 2007, that its unit Berkshire Bank had opened a new full-service branch in Glenville, NY. The opening marks Berkshire Bank's tenth branch in New York and is the bank's 31st full-service branch in northeastern New York and western Massachusetts. (SNL Bank M,A Weekly, 5/07/07; Berkshire Hills Bancorp Press Release 4/30/07)

Butler Bank of Lowell, MA, opened a new branch at 16 North Main Street, Andover, MA, on May 29, 2007. (Butler Bank notice, 5/29/07)

First Ipswich Bancorp unit First National Bank of Ipswich, Ipswich, MA, closed its Londonderry, NH, branch on May 11, 2007. (SNL Bank M,A Weekly, 5/14/07)

De Novo

The Massachusetts Division of Banks approved a petition to establish Nuvo Bank and Trust Company of Springfield, MA. The Division's Certificate of Public Convenience and Advantage was issued on April 27, 2007. Organizers of Nuvo Bank and Trust are now in the process of securing $25 million in capital and hope to open the bank in late 2007. (Massachusetts Division of Banks, April 27, 2007; 'The Republican,' 5/13/07)

Federal Reserve Board Issues Proposed Amendments to Regulation Z (Truth in Lending) The Federal Reserve Board issued proposed amendments to Regulation Z (Truth in Lending) that are intended to improve the effectiveness of disclosures made to consumers in connection with credit card accounts and other revolving credit plans by ensuring that information is provided in a timely manner and in a form that is readily understandable.

The proposed amendments focus on changes for open-end credit rules (other than home-secured), and reflect the results of consumer testing conducted on behalf of the Board as part of its comprehensive review of the open-end credit rules. The Board's May 23, 2007, press release and more information on the proposed amendments are available online at http//www.federalreserve.gov/boarddocs/press/bcreg/2007/20070523/default.htm. (Federal Reserve Board Press Release, 5/23/07)

Approval of Final Rule to Implement Section 601 of the Financial Services Regulatory Relief Act of 2006, Regulation O The Federal Reserve Board has approved a final rule to implement section 601 of the Financial Services Regulatory Relief Act of 2006. Section 601 eliminated several statutory reporting and disclosure requirements relating to insider lending by insured depository institutions.

The Board decided to eliminate these statutory reporting and disclosure provisions because the federal banking agencies have not found them to be useful in monitoring insider lending or preventing insider abuse. The final rule amends the Board's Regulation O (12 CFR part 215) to reflect the elimination of these reporting and disclosure requirements.

Regulation O implements statutory restrictions on the ability of insured depository institutions to extend credit to their executive officers, directors, and principal shareholders, and to related interests of such persons ("insiders"). The final rule does not alter the substantive restrictions on loans by insured depository institutions to their insiders or to insiders of their correspondent banks. The Board's May 29, 2007, press release and detailed notice is available online at http://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/press/bcreg/20070529a.htm. (Federal Reserve Board Press Release, 5/29/07)

FDIC Issues Financial Institution Letter on Assessment Rate Adjustment Guidelines for Large Institutions On May 8, 2007, the FDIC Board of Directors approved guidelines for determining how adjustments of up to 0.50 basis points will be made to the quarterly assessment rates of "large" insured institutions (generally, those having over $10 billion in assets), Risk Category I institutions (generally, well-capitalized institutions with CAMELS composite ratings of 1 or 2), and insured foreign branches in Risk Category I. The guidelines were issued according to the recently adopted Assessments Regulation (12 C.F.R. § 327.9) and provide further clarification to the analytical processes, and the controls that will be applied to these processes, in determining adjustments.

The FDIC's Financial Institution letter detailing these changes, as well as the final guidelines, is available online at https://www.fdic.gov/news/news/financial/2007/fil07040.html. (FDIC Financial Institution Letter, 5/16/07)

Federal Reserve Bank of Boston Hosts Forum on Contactless Cards An emerging payment type, the contactless card - a card with an embedded antenna and computer chip (RFID tag) that requires no swiping at the reader - continues to gain momentum in the U.S. One of the goals of the Boston Fed's Emerging Payments Research Group (EPRG) is to understand the role that consumers play in impacting and responding to new payment options. In that effort, EPRG recently hosted its 2007 EPRG Contactless Forum.

Participants at the forum, including representatives of banks, retailers, and card organizations, as well as academics and Federal Reserve System payments professionals, explored consumer and merchant payment choices related to contactless (RFID) technology. They also examined security and privacy risks and vulnerabilities with RFID-enabled payments and looked at future adoption - the barriers and the opportunities with contactless smart cards. The roundtable discussion generated candid dialogue among the participants and provided further insight into consumer payment preferences and the contactless market.

Additional information on the 2007 EPRG Contactless Forum can be found on the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston's web site https://www.bostonfed.org/news-and-events/events/2007/contactless.aspx.

Items in Bank Notes focused on developments affecting banking structure in New England. They were condensed from daily newspapers and press releases from federal and state financial regulatory agencies. Their reproduction does not imply our endorsement of the accuracy, opinions or policies reflected in the subject matter.Items in Bank Notes focused on developments affecting banking structure in New England. They were condensed from daily newspapers and press releases from federal and state financial regulatory agencies. Their reproduction does not imply our endorsement of the accuracy, opinions or policies reflected in the subject matter.